


To Thine Own Self Be True

by Watterdrop



Category: Hamlet - Shakespeare, Romeo And Juliet - Shakespeare
Genre: Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-25
Updated: 2019-01-25
Packaged: 2019-10-15 21:52:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17536931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Watterdrop/pseuds/Watterdrop
Summary: Stratford upon Avon; a lovely town home of the famous William Shakespeare. However, in the present day, it's home to a few more famous characters....Basically Once upon a time, but it takes place on a college campus and with Shakespeare plays.





	To Thine Own Self Be True

"Seriously, my life has turned into some...mediocre rom-com and I need to make it stop."

Riley took a swig of their water bottle and shook their head. "Well, maybe you should tell people that you're in a relationship with your roommate?"

Hamlet Anderson groaned, resting his head into his arms. His jet black hair fell into his face-- the epitome of vengeful teenager.

His almost-best friend, Riley Garbers, on the other hand, was a strange sort of person. Their dark brown hair was short, wavy, and well maintained.They wore only button ups and sweater vests, but they were tall, standing at 6 feet with chiseled muscles that one would only know existed if that person saw them drinking during a DnD session and wearing some nerdy t-shirt.

"I'm out to all my friends," came Hamlet's muffled voice from under his black sleeves.

"That's three people, total. One is the person you're dating, and another is the person everyone _thinks_ you're dating." Riley shook their head again, pushing their glasses up the bridge of their nose. "The third person is me."

Hamlet raised his head, his black eyeliner lightly smudged from being rubbed vigorously into his My Chemical Romance shirt. His dark brown eyes narrowed, staring directly at Riley. "You are no help whatsoever."

With that, Professor Caesar entered the classroom, and both of the young adults went quiet. At some point during the government lecture, Riley passed a note towards Hamlet. The note had several responses already, written underneath the original message. Hamlet recognized the handwriting immediately, and turned to Riley to glare at them. They simply shrugged and turned back to the professor, focusing on the lesson.

_DnD tonight?_

_yep_

_totally_

_oh shit ive got to play two characters now. sure_

Hamlet added his own handwriting under it:

_i can be free. what bout P and Uncle Clad?_

He passed the note back to Riley, who then passed it on all the way to the other side of the room. Hamlet followed the path of the slip of paper until his eyes reached the man sitting in the back corner of the classroom.

The man had sandy blond hair that fell a little over his hazel eyes, and his olive toned hands took the note with such genteelness that Hamlet nearly sighed aloud in affection. However, Riley poked him in the shoulder, smirking.

"You infatuated emo," they whispered to him as Professor Caesar turned his back to the class. Just then, after writing a giant "X" on the chalkboard over the word "communism," the professor turned back and shouted, "Class dismissed!"

Hamlet grabbed his dark gray backpack and slung it over his shoulder, standing up and following Riley out of the classroom. He felt a tap on his left arm, and he smiled as he tapped back. As soon as they were through the door, he turned around to face the source of the contact. it was the same man he had been staring fondly at before: his boyfriend, Horatio.

"Hey, SP," Horatio greeted with a wink, grinning.

Hamlet shushed him. "You know I'm not...." He paused, hoping Horatio would get the subliminal message to stop being so open about their affection. It appeared like he did, as he nodded.

"By the way, Polonius's character was killed by you early last session, so he may show up with a new character, but probably not today. Claudius...yeah, he'll be there." Horatio laughed.

Just then, another voice called out from behind the group.

"Hey! Hey Hamlet! Wait for me!"

Hamlet sighed and continued walking, but Riley and Horatio each grabbed one of his arms to keep him in place. Hamlet caught a glimpse of Riley's elated blue and brown eyes before he was turned around by his (now former) friends.

The young man caught up to the group, leaning over and breathing heavily. When he looked up, however, his blue eyes were shining with delight. His dark blond hair was disheveled, and not in the way Hamlet purposefully styled his hair to cover his eyes. This man, who had the aura of an emo Troy from _High School Musical,_ was a freshman who went by the name of Romeo. He had been attached to Hamlet from the moment he saw him in the halls, and copied his every move. Hamlet, on the other hand, found his presence very, very annoying.

"Hi Hamlet! Hi Hamlet's friends!" he gushed, trailing behind the group like a lost puppy. Hamlet groaned aloud, but Romeo didn't seem to notice. "I finally bought myself a Fall Out Boy t-shirt" he continued, gesturing at the shirt he was wearing. It was dark blue with a mix of the cover of _Infinity On High_ and the cover of _Take This To Your Grave._ Horatio turned to show him his own P!ATD shirt. Romeo sighed, obviously not as emotionally invested in Horatio's life as he was Hamlet's. "Please, Panic At The Disco? I don't listen to them, they're gay."

Hamlet rolled his eyes. "That doesn't make any sense. Music can't be a sexuality."

"He probably means it as an insult," Riley joined in, "which is totally _wrong,_  you know."

Romeo sighed at the other member of the party before turning his full attention back to Hamlet. "Hey, my new girlfriend's visiting me tonight. You should totally meet her!"

He blinked, surprised. "You're no longer on and off with Rosaline?"

"Nope." Romeo shook his head. "Her name's Juliet, and she's a junior,"

"We're juniors, but I don't know any Juliet," Horatio chimed in. Finally, they were starting to lose the annoying jock-wannabe-goth. Hamlet knew that at the next corner, they would part ways, unless Romeo wanted to be late for class.

The college freshman called over his shoulder as he turned the corner away from the group. "In high school!" He turned and skipped away, and, as much as he hated to admit it, he looked like Hamlet had when Horatio first asked him out.

Riley gasped. "Oh my God, I can't believe he's dating a high schooler,"

"I can," scoffed Horatio. "The guy's a tramp and an asshole."

"Why do you always make me wait for him then?"

Horatio smirked. "The look on your face is so worth it!"

_______________________________________________________________________________

The day passed as it always did, classes blending together like mixing colored paints into a black base. Which Hamlet did during his art class whenever he got bored.

Eventually, he made it back to his dorm where his lovely boyfriend was waiting for them. They shared a kiss before heading out to one of their friend's house.

Laertes's place was the hang out spot for Dungeons and Dragons, and all of the players hung out there. Horatio was one of the only ones who had played before the session, so he was the Dungeon Master, and most of the players used their own names for lack of confusion. However, that didn't mean the game was without confusion. While all of the players, minus Horatio and Riley, were new to the game, Laertes was the worst of them. Currently, he and Uncle Claud were...wait, what were they doing?

"And I show him my poison sword!" Hamlet heard him exclaim as he tuned back into the conversation.

"Do you have that?" Horatio asked, looking more dead inside than Hamlet felt.

"I do now!"

Laertes hadn't been coming to the sessions since the first one, even though they played at his house. Usually, he sat in the corner doing homework. He resembled Danny DiVito in a way, if Danny DiVito were 6 feet tall, 22 years old, and playing D&D in his basement. So, not very much like Danny DiVito at all, but he liked the guy, so it seemed appropriate to compare them.

Horatio slapped his hand in his face, and then slammed his head into the table. "Fine! Okay! You have a fucking poison sword now! It conveniently takes as long as it needs for the plot to develop to kill someone!" He threw his hands up into the air wildly, exasperated. "Now, onto the two characters played by one person on a ship!"

"Shit," Riley grumbled. "Do I have to go through this? I don't want to have another accident like last time."

"Last time, it was just that Guildenstern couldn't play the flute, and you kept mixing him up with Rosencrantz."

"But this time, Hamlet's not there to help me?"

"Help them?"

"Yes, them. There's more than one. I fucked up, okay?"

"Fine," Horatio sighed. "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have a meaningless conversation and are killed by the people who wanted to kill Hamlet."

"I did pass that deception check," Hamlet joined in. Riley groaned. "Great! I need to make _another_ character!"

Hamlet zoned out again as Riley continued to complain while Horatio lost his mind with the idiocy of his players. Maybe he could turn this into some...dark, edgy poem. Lady would like that. Or Romeo...nah, fuck Romeo.

**Author's Note:**

> This is also posted on Wattpad, btw.


End file.
